In fact, they can help you gain weight, leave you feeling tired, give you acne and age your skin.

Not to mention the more serious health risks of diabetes, heart disease, dementia and some cancers.

The 12 steps, put together by nutritionists, will help you ditch the habit once and for all...

1. Portion Control

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Eating meals full of green veg and good protein will kick the sugar cravings

Cassandra Barns, nutritionist, said: "Aim for foods that have a low glycaemic load, as their impact on blood sugar level is minimal and you’ll be less likely to experience blood glucose highs and lows that will have you reaching for the cookie jar.

"You need to identify your behaviours and make a decision to stop them. Then replace them with a positive strategy for curbing old habit patterns. This may take effort and time, as we often hang on to what is familiar, but if you stick to it, you will soon be reaping the rewards for a little thoughtful decision-making, retraining and application of willpower."

6. Go easy on the tea and coffee

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Tea and coffee contains caffeine, which can make you crave sugar later on when it wears off

Marilyn said: "Caffeine is a stimulant that causes our body’s stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline to be released, which in turn cause a cycle of energy dips and peaks, and make you more likely to crave sugar later on.

8. Treat yourself

Cassandra says you can treat yourself to three squares of good quality dark chocolate, minimum 70% cocoa.

She added: "This amount will only contain a relatively small amount of sugar, and there is also evidence that dark chocolate has health benefits, or try a small pot of sugar-free plain yoghurt, with a teaspoon of pure cocoa or raw cacao powder."

9. Use supplements to control cravings

Cassandra advises you take a chromium supplement like Quest Vitamin’s Ecuigluco.

She said: "This supplement also contains vitamin B3, which works closely together with chromium as well as green coffee extract to boost your metabolism.